Methodology and Tools for Table-Based Protocol Specification and Model Generation

1. A method comprising: associating and storing a code fragment for each cell of a table for a protocol specification in a semantic mapping corresponding to the table, wherein the semantic mapping is configured according to a header-based structure of the table, the table stored in a first data structure and the semantic mapping stored in a second data structure; and automatically generating a formal model for the protocol specification using the table and the semantic mapping, the formal model according to an implementation agnostic model (IAM), and including generating a code segment using the table and the semantic mapping by forming a plurality of guarded statements each including a plurality of state predicates each associated with a cell of a first portion of the table and a state transformer associated with a cell of a second portion of the table.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the state transformer of each of the guarded statements corresponds to an action to be performed if the plurality of state predicates of the guarded statement are of a first state, and wherein the guarded statement is to indicate that the state transformer is to not be performed if at least one of the plurality of state predicates is not of the first state.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising collapsing the plurality of guarded statements having a first count of guarded statements into a collapsed set of guarded statements having a second count of guarded statements that is smaller than the first count if the state predicates are mutually exclusive as to each other.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising computing at least one of the state predicates a single time in the collapsed set of guarded statements, wherein the at least one state predicate would be computed multiple times in the plurality of guarded statements.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising transforming at least a first plurality of cells of the table of a common instance into a single cell, based on the collapsed set of guarded statements.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising automatically generating a subsetted table using the table, responsive to a predicate including a plurality of actions or states that are not to occur in a system that implements the protocol specification.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining whether a state or action of a system that implements the protocol specification has been exercised during a simulation based on monitoring of the table.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the monitoring includes setting an indicator associated with a cell when a state or an action associated with the cell has been exercised.

9. An article comprising a non-transitory machine-accessible medium including instructions that when executed cause a system to: associate and store a code fragment for each cell of a table for a protocol specification in a semantic mapping corresponding to the table, wherein the semantic mapping is configured according to a header-based structure of the table, the table stored in a first data structure and the semantic mapping stored in a second data structure; and automatically generate a formal model for the protocol specification using the table and the semantic mapping, the formal model according to an implementation agnostic model (IAM), and including generation of a code segment using the table and the semantic mapping by forming a plurality of guarded statements each including a plurality of state predicates each associated with a cell of a first portion of the table and a state transformer associated with a cell of a second portion of the table.

10. The article of claim 9 , wherein the state transformer of each of the guarded statements corresponds to an action to be performed if the plurality of state predicates of the guarded statement are of a first state, and wherein the guarded statement is to indicate that the state transformer is to not be performed if at least one of the plurality of state predicates is not of the first state.

11. The article of claim 9 , further comprising instructions that when executed enable the system to collapse the plurality of guarded statements having a first count of guarded statements to form a collapsed set of guarded statements having a second count of guarded statements that is smaller than the first count if the state predicates are mutually exclusive as to each other.

12. The article of claim 11 , further comprising instructions that when executed enable the system to transform at least a first plurality of cells of the table of a common instance into a single cell, based on the collapsed set of guarded statements.

13. The article of claim 9 , further comprising instructions that when executed enable the system to automatically generate a subsetted table using the table, responsive to a predicate including a plurality of actions or states that are not to occur in a platform that implements the protocol specification.

14. The article of claim 13 , further comprising instructions that when executed enable the system to determine whether a state or action of a platform that implements the protocol specification has been exercised during a simulation based on monitoring of the table, and if so, to set an indicator associated with a cell when a state or an action associated with the cell has been exercised.

15. The article of claim 11 , further comprising instructions that when executed enable the system to compute at least one of the state predicates a single time in the collapsed set of guarded statements, wherein the at least one state predicate would be computed multiple times in the at least some of the plurality of guarded statements.